544 GRAMINE^E. 



spikes 2-8, suberect : axis filiform ; spikelets elliptical oblong, pointed ; lowest glume 

 wanting, second little shorter than the flower. — Trin. Ic. t. 148. — Panicum, L. Paspalum, 

 Ftugg. Milium paniceum, Sw. — i'-2' high; spikes l"-2", spikelets V" long; flower 

 purple ; caryopsis flat-convex. — Hab. Jamaica (Sw.), in dry, sandy soil ; [United States ! 

 to Brazil!]. 



** Spikes spreading. 



79. D. margin ata, Lie. Softly pilose below; spikes 2-8, spreading: axis 3-winged, 

 about as broad as the spikelets ; spikelets lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, pointed ; lowest 

 glume minute or abortive, second exceeding half the flower, third 5-nerved, pubescent at 

 the margin : its lateral nerves converging. — Trin. Ic. t. 93. — Milium digitatum, Sw. ! 

 (Paspalum, Kth. ; D. jamaicensis, Spreng.) : a form with glabrous leaves, and the lowest 

 glume often abortive ; what Swartz says of serrate leaves, refers to their margin sometimes 

 undulate, as occurs often in Panicece. D. eriogona, Lk. (Panicum, Schrad. !) : a form with 

 the leaves and their sheaths softly pilose. D. wgyptiaca, Parlat. (non Retz). Panicum glau- 

 cescens, Ns. Distinguished from D. sanguinalis, Scop., by narrow, usually greenish 

 spikelets, and a longer second glume ; spikelets 1'" long. — Hab. Jamaica !, all coll., in dry 

 pastures; S. Kitts!, Els., Antigua!, Wullschl. ; [southern United States! to Chile! and 

 Brazil ! ; Galapagos ! to Australia ! ; East Indies ! ; Arabia ! to trop. Africa !]. 



80. D. setigera, Rth. Softly pilose below, spikes numerous (-5-2), spreading : axis 

 narrowly 3-winged, usually bearing a long hair below several pedicels, little narrower than 

 or as broad as the spikelets; spikelets lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, pointed; lowest 

 glume minute, second half as long as the flower, third 5 -nerved, pubescent at the margin : 

 all its nerves equidistant, nearly parallel. — D. horizontalis, W. (Panicum, Met/., Ns. /). 

 D. setosa, Desv. (Panicum Hamiltonii, Kth.). — Spikelets greenish, 1'" long. — Hab. 

 Jamaica !, Wils. ; Antigua !, Wullschl., Dominica !, Imr. ; Trinidad !, Cr. ; [all tropical 

 countries ; Cape]. 



34. ERIOCHLOA, Kth. 



Character of Paspalum, but fertile glume exceeded by the sterile pair and terminated 

 with an included, pubescent awn or tuft of hairs. Spikelets hairy, pointed, pedicellate : 

 pedicel abruptly thickened at the joint below the flower. — Spiciform racemes subsessile, 

 usually alternate along the common axis. 



81. S. punctata, Hamilt. Perennial; stem erect, pubescent above: nodes pubescent; 

 leaves and sheaths glabrous; racemes erect, alternate, bearing many spikelets : axis pubes- 

 cent ; spikelets ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, sericeous-hairy, inferior geminate, superior 

 single ; superior sterile glume devoid of a palea, fertile awned : aion one-third as long as its 

 glume.— Trin. Ic. t. 153.— Milium, L. Helopus, Trin. Paspalum, Trin.—V-$ high; 

 spikelets 2'" long. — Hab. Jamaica (Sw.) -. in wet pastures ; Antigua !, Wullschl., S. Vin- 

 cent !, Guild. ; Trinidad !, Cr. ; [Arkansas ! to Buenos Ayres!]. 



35. STENOTAPHRUM, Tr. 



Spikelets inserted into the excavations of the axis. Lowest glume minute, exterior : 

 second supporting the fertile flower (or abortive) : third of firmer texture, usually $ ■ fer- 

 tile flower coriaceous, awnless. — Long-creeping, stoloniferous grasses; leaves distichous, 

 flat : sheath spreading ; spike simple or inflorescence contracted .- branches short, jointed. 



82. S. americanum, Schrk. Leaves linear, blunt : sheath compressed : spike one- 

 sided: axis compressed, broader than the spikelets, convex-flattish on both sides: branches 

 appressM, sunk into its 2-seriate excavations : spikelets 1-2, one at the base of the branch, 

 the other (if present) at its summit. — Schrk. H. Monac. t. 98. Rottbccllia dimidiata, Sw. 

 R. stolonifera, Pair. Diastcmanthe platystachys, Steud. — Spikelets oblong-lanceolate, 

 pointed, 2'" long.— Hab. Jamaica!, Al. March; S. Kitts!, Antigua!, Wullschl., Domi- 

 nica \, Imr. ; Triuidad !, Cr. ; [Bermudas ! • Mexico ! to Buenos Ayres ! ; Sandwich 

 islands !]. 



36. ORTHOPOGON, B. Br. 



Sterile glumes 3, herbaceous, owned, the 2 superior gradually larger and shorter-awned (or 



